Photo: Aab254 · CC BY-SA 4.0Redding’s library lends 8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Mark Twain Library serves Redding’s 8,719 residents. Last year it lent 91K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
What Redding’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 50%. What your card is worth ↓
Redding invests in its library
Mark Twain Library spends $120 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 48% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Redding last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
58% of the 663 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 174 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Redding’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Redding is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #16 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Redding
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.9%
9.9% of Redding’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Redding’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Redding last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mark Twain Library serves 8,719 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
91K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 62K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
21,293 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mark Twain Library, 439 Redding Rd, Redding.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Redding? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Redding cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 3,682 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Redding ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilton | Wilton Library Association | 12.7 | 55 | A |
| Ridgefield | Ridgefield Library | 12.5 | 58 | A |
| Redding | Mark Twain Library fine-free | 10.5 | 51 | A |
| Weston | Weston Public Library | 8.4 | 52 | A+ |
| Easton | Easton Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 45 | B+ |
| Bethel | Bethel Public Library | 7.0 | 53 | B− |
| Danbury | Danbury Public Library | 3.2 | 51 | D |
| Topstone | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Branchville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Route 7 Gateway | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Redding
Does Redding have a public library?
Yes. Mark Twain Library, 439 Redding Rd, serves Redding’s 8,719 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mark Twain Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Redding’s library?
It logged 6.0 visits and lent 10.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Redding’s civic life grade?
A Redding is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #16 of 155 in Connecticut. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Redding.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.